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GEORGE IV. SCOLLAY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

GLASS COFFIN.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 30,252, dated October 2, 1860.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, GEORGE l/V. SooLLAY, of St. Louis, Missouri, haveinvented a new and Improved Glass Coffin; and I do hereby declare thatthe following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same,reference being had to the annexed drawing, making part of thisspecification, in which-d Figure l is a top view of my said coffin; Fig.2 a side elevation; Fig. 3 a transverse section, and Fig. t an endelevation thereof.

This invention is the commencement of a series of inventions, by me, theprime object of which is, to preserve the human body after death, for along period of time, from decomposition and putrefaction withoutmolesting it, by cutting, as is now the practice, to infuse in it apoisonous liquor, to destroy the animalcula, which usually develop afterdeath. To accomplish this object it is necessary to deposit the deadbody in some vessel, constructed of some material, and in such a manneras to be absolutely imperish-v able, and impervious to the air, and fromwhich the air can be abstracted, and into which can be introduced anyone or more of that class of gases, which in the absence of air oroxygen, will destroy animal life, and consequently the animaleula, thatdevelop in the body after death. As I know of no other material butglass of which such a vessel can be made, I propose to make a Collin ofthat material, which shall fill all the requirements above referred to.To do this however, it was necessary to devise molds, and a press ofpeculiar construction to form successfully on a large scale, the twoparts of the coin. This I have done and have made these molds, and thepress referred to the subject matter of separate applications, forseparate patents. I have mentioned them here, only that a betterunderstanding may be had of this present invention, which consists inmaking a coflin of glass to answer the requirements, above stated.

Similar letters of reference represent corresponding parts in thedifferent figures of the drawing annexed.

The body of the coffin is shown in the drawing by B, and the lid thereofis shown by A. Upon the upper edge of the body of the coffin and all theway around it, I make a flange or rib Z2, in the outside of which alongthe whole length of the Collin, I make a groove b, and on the outside ofthe body of the Collin, I make a rib the whole length thereof, shown byI, to serve the purpose of a handle, and in the lower part near the endof the coffin I introduce a glass plug or cock d, which I operate with awrench D. This cock has a hole through it as shown, which communicateswith, both the out and inside of t-he coffin, whereby a pipe may beapplied to it to exhaust the air out of the coffin. The lid of the colhnis made with a groove in the inside of the edge thereof, to fit over therib or flange o, and with a second groo-ve shown by b tocorrespond'with, and match the groove in the flange o so that when thelid is shut down on the body of the coHin the two grooves form a hole,also shown by b in Fig. 3. The flange c in the ends of the lid, shuts inthe inside of the flange o, so as to break the oint-that is, make adouble oint between the lid and the body of the coffin in the endsthereof.

The coffin having been made in manner and form as aforesaid, I fill thegrooves, Z), with a soft silicate, in the nature of a cement, and thejoints adjacent the said grooves I smear with the same material, andthen close down the lid, and thereupon I introduce in the ends of thehole I) short glass plugs, say from one to three inches in length, withheads on their out ends similar to bolt heads, as shown by b, Fig. 2;but before I introduce these bolts I dip them in a solution of solublesilicate, of potash or soda, and thereupon I give the joint a coating ofthis solution of silicate, which being of the nature of glass, as isalso the cement above referred to, soon cools and hardens, and becomeslike glass; imperishable and impervious to the air, so that a vacuum maybe had and maintained in the coffin for all time to come.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. Making a glass cofhn with the rib I near the upper edge thereof andin combination with the flange o, to strengthen and stien the saidflange and upper edge of the coffin, to serve as a basis for the lid torest upon and as a handle to lift the coffin by.

2. Making the upper edge of the body of the coffin and the lower edge ofthe lid thereof, with the flange and lateral grooves, in the mannerdescribed, for the purpose specified.

3. The use of a valve or Cock n combnapurpose of uniting the lid to thebody of tion Wit-h a eon arranged in the manner a glass coffln, morefirmly than the cement described S0 that a pipe can be att-ached towould unite it, unaded by the Said. plug.

exhaust the air out of the eon when said GEORGE W. SCOLLAY. 5 cock andeon are of glass. tnessesz 4. The use of the glass plugs b, (the head C.E. GRAY,

of which is shown in Fig. 2, by b) for the R. B. GRAY.

